The Copyright
Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States to the authors of “original works of authorship.” This includes, literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works as well as computer software. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. The Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to conduct and authorize various acts, including reproduction, public performance and making derivative works. Copyright protection is automatically secured when a work is fixed into a tangible medium such as a book software code, video, etc. In some instances, the University registers copyrights, but generally not until a commercial product is ready for manufacture.

University copyright notice
Although copyrightable works do not require a copyright notice, we do recommend that you use one. For works owned by the University, use the following notice:

The Copyright Office is undergoing an extensive business process reengineering (BPR) initiative of many of its internal work systems, including registration and recordation procedural systems, to enhance the delivery of its services to the public. The implementation of an online registration system is a key component of BPR, and it requires that the Office amend its regulations governing the procedures by which the public submits, and the Office processes, copyright registrations and recordations.

These interim rules identify the principal changes and upgrades to the registration system and announce the amendments to the regulations to accommodate online registration. These changes were implemented with the commencement of the Beta test phase of the
electronic online registration system on July 9, 2007. The Beta test phase will be limited to selected participants until system testing is complete, at which time the Office will open the electronic registration system to the public.